Driving classes

[Heide264]

So I was wondering if anybody has taken any driving classes and their experiences with them.

I'd kind of like to take a good one a few months after graduating as a graduation present sort of thing with a friend. Rally / Track / even defensive driving... Just something involving a nice awd car and some form of instruction to learn some stuff first hand, instead of figuring it all out on my own.

I am imagining they are pretty pricey, and not sure if I have to sign up way in advance for most of them. Just looking for some general thoughts on the matter.

[Sinister]

Look at the HPDE. It's sort of a learning to road race (track) type of thing.

18+ or 16+ with parental permission
http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/

(Btw.. I haven't done it. But a local tuner recommended it when I told them I wanted to start racing this year... which hasn't happened yet.)

[Rambo]

Driving is an art because of its important. It is very useful things that every one go to driving classes to improvise our skills of driving. Go for recognized institute of Driving.

lolwut?


I went to an SCCA AutoX introduction class at the local racetrack. It was just $60 for the whole day, and I had a one-on-one instructor for most of it, the rest was on my own. They supplied all safety equipment. They purposely match instructors who are familiar with your car. My instructor raced his bugeye semi-professionally, so he gave me invaluable insight into how our cars handle, brake, and when to shift. I let him drive my car just to see what he could do, and holy **** he found horsepower and grip I had no idea a stock bugeye had. It was an awesome experience, I would highly, highly recommend it.

[D's WRX]

I've taken a lot of different levels of driving schools (lucky I guess, work payed ), and by far the best I've ever attended was at Team Oneil's Team O'Neil Rally School & Car Control Center It's a little pricey, but well worth it if you can get a group of people to split the cost.

Took the 5 day rally driving course, and if you ever had any idea why AWD vehicles (especially Subarus) are the most fun to drive, this will answer all your questions. They teach you the differences in driving FWD/RWD/AWD and show you just how far you can push a car....big warning though, if you think you drive your car hard now, wait till you're done with the course and more comfortable pushing the limits...

[teflon_jones]

I'd find the website for a local track and see what events they offer. You can learn a lot about your car and driving with even one track session. Autox is another great way to learn about your car.

[Heide264]

Woah old thread from the dead :-P

Did a track day where I get an instructor with me at Pittsburgh international race complex. Was a blast. Highly recommended to anybody.

... Just have cash to replace the brake pads, and entire tank of gas, large chunk of new tires, and any other surprises :-P. Still way worth it.

[Rambo]

I find that AutoX is a bit less brutal on the tires, but even then you're looking at a set a season, maybe shorter, depending on your class. I would like to try out a real track day though.

[etnpnys]

I've taken a lot of different levels of driving schools (lucky I guess, work payed ), and by far the best I've ever attended was at Team Oneil's Team O'Neil Rally School & Car Control Center It's a little pricey, but well worth it if you can get a group of people to split the cost.

Took the 5 day rally driving course, and if you ever had any idea why AWD vehicles (especially Subarus) are the most fun to drive, this will answer all your questions. They teach you the differences in driving FWD/RWD/AWD and show you just how far you can push a car....big warning though, if you think you drive your car hard now, wait till you're done with the course and more comfortable pushing the limits...

Work paid!?!? What do you do!?

(Your 1st post = WELCOME!)

[teflon_jones]

... Just have cash to replace the brake pads, and entire tank of gas, large chunk of new tires, and any other surprises :-P. Still way worth it.

Yeah lots of people post about how they want to track their cars but have no idea how expensive it is! It's easily $1000 for a day. $200-300 for the track fee, $100-150 for a couple of tanks of gas, $500+ in tire wear (you can go through half of the wear in a day), $100+ in brake wear (lots of wear again), plus other miscellaneous things that you're wearing much faster like needing a brake fluid flush ($50+), oil change ($35+), etc.

I find that AutoX is a bit less brutal on the tires, but even then you're looking at a set a season, maybe shorter, depending on your class. I would like to try out a real track day though.

There's absolutely no comparison between the wear of an auto-x day and a track day. Auto-x barely wears things out more than a day of driving on normal roads, while one track day can burn through a lot of the wearable components on your car.

[etnpnys]

Yeah lots of people post about how they want to track their cars but have no idea how expensive it is! It's easily $1000 for a day. $200-300 for the track fee, $100-150 for a couple of tanks of gas, $500+ in tire wear (you can go through half of the wear in a day), $100+ in brake wear (lots of wear again), plus other miscellaneous things that you're wearing much faster like needing a brake fluid flush ($50+), oil change ($35+), etc.

There's absolutely no comparison between the wear of an auto-x day and a track day. Auto-x barely wears things out more than a day of driving on normal roads, while one track day can burn through a lot of the wearable components on your car.

Whew! Thanx for clearing that up - I started reading your post and I was like WTF for 6 runs at 45 seconds each? No way!

[Rambo]

There's absolutely no comparison between the wear of an auto-x day and a track day. Auto-x barely wears things out more than a day of driving on normal roads, while one track day can burn through a lot of the wearable components on your car.

You missed my point. I wasn't trying to compare the two, and fully agree with you on the costs of a true track day, both in term of cash cost and part wear. My point was for those who want the thrill of racing at a much lower price point in terms of entry fees and increased part wear, might want to look at AutoX. Yes, it's much slower than a track course, and a very different experience (better or worse is up to individual preferences), but the racing is real, and it still gets my adrenaline pumping. I've had a blast doing it. I'll get to a real track day soon enough.

[Heide264]

I find that AutoX is a bit less brutal on the tires, but even then you're looking at a set a season, maybe shorter, depending on your class. I would like to try out a real track day though.

Do it at least once. It's worth it.

Yeah lots of people post about how they want to track their cars but have no idea how expensive it is! It's easily $1000 for a day. $200-300 for the track fee, $100-150 for a couple of tanks of gas, $500+ in tire wear (you can go through half of the wear in a day), $100+ in brake wear (lots of wear again), plus other miscellaneous things that you're wearing much faster like needing a brake fluid flush ($50+), oil change ($35+), etc.

There's absolutely no comparison between the wear of an auto-x day and a track day. Auto-x barely wears things out more than a day of driving on normal roads, while one track day can burn through a lot of the wearable components on your car.

I'd agree with most of that. I did 4x20 minute sessions and had to leave the last one just after half way through for gas.

My approximations based off of my first time (I went into the brakes in more detail to find how quickly I'd pay a BBK off):
-$200 fee / event. This includes 4x20 minute sessions and a personal instructor the full time. Not a bad deal in my opinion. Instructor was awesome.
-15gal of gas (~$75 give or take I guess)
-20% or 30% of tires (~$300 give or take 50) - this could be more or less. I need to check tread depth. I was sliding sideways a good bit and the tires were fuzzy when I left.
-Brake fluid flushes as needed (~$20/event for good fluid DIY)
-Front pads for DS2500 are $253/set. I think I toasted the whole set last time. I would say 3 events per set normally as of now. $85/event.
-Rear pads for DS2500 are $209/set. I'd guess you could get upwards of 5 events out of a set of these. $42/event.
-Front rotors for decent blanks are $250/set. From what I've read, 8 events is about average. $31/event.
-Rear rotors last a while. No approximation on those.
-Caliper rebuilds are tough. Seems that most people have to replace seals around 10 events. $7.50/event

Worth noting... with a KNS BBK - the same front brake pads go down to $131/event, are 5mm thicker, and have more surface area. Estimated about twice the wear length and half the price . Also the front rotors will cost $500/set, but last 3 times as long from most people I've read.

Regardless - after you do one or two, its worth looking into putting some money in upfront to avoid being nickle and dimed as you go. I'll create a thread about the costs and ways to save on it down the road after I get some better numbers.

[BeardieBrat]

In 2010 I had a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3. Lost a bet with my hubby and We found a driving school I could afford. The Local SCCA club had Evolution Performance Driving School come and do Phase I and Phase II courses. I took the Phase I and got hooked on Solo. I've been waiting for EVO Driving courses close by to go again!

BeardieBrat
Now with a 2012 WRX

[zax]

The PDC I took was the best "mod" I ever installed